On Tuesday night, the Atlanta Hawks fought the Miami Heat for the second time in three days. The Hawks lost to Miami on Sunday night, 109-99, in a tough game. Atlanta looked to match the series of the season against the South Beach team in a game fraught with tension.
Nate McMillan took over as coach this evening after the Hawks dismissed Lloyd Pierce on Monday afternoon. McMillan will serve as an interim coach in the near future, and Tuesday’s game was his first official test. McMillan also took on the responsibilities of head coach two weeks ago, when Pierce was absent from the team for the birth of his second daughter.
In a positive turn of events, the Hawks welcomed Bogdan Bogdanovic back to the group (with a minute restriction), but Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter and Kris Dunn were on the injury report again. Jimmy Butler was out of action for the Heat.
The Hawks came out with a solid victory tonight against Miami, winning the fourth quarter by 31-14. Trae Young had just five points from fourth, but ended up with 18 points and 10 assists in victory.
Atlanta showed some offensive cohesion at the start of the first quarter, scoring in six of the first nine possessions, five of which were assisted. Watch Tony “Cheat Code” Snell tear down corner three.
Unfortunately, Heat was up to the task, keeping the game played for most of the first quarter. Bogdanovic paved the way for the game at the 4:49 mark and immediately assisted John Collins for a turnaround jump.
The bank unit showed a little more defensive urgency and prevented Heat’s second streak from gaining any offensive momentum. The Hawks had a six point lead in the second quarter, 23-17. Snell finished with nine points in the quarter to lead all the Hawks’ top scorers.
The second quarter saw more offensive fights for Miami, a trend that would return later in the game. They scored just five points in the first six minutes of the second half, while the Hawks managed to collect a few buckets.
The Hawks finished the second strong quarter and had a 44-37 advantage at halftime. The Heat never really seemed to find its pace offensively and the Hawks did enough to maintain the lead. They even showed glimpses of some offensive consistency, look at this move from the ball to a Collins three-point ball.
Collins led all of the Hawks’ top scorers at halftime with ten points and five rebounds. For Miami, Goran Dragic and Max Strus each scored six points.
The second half started with a much better offensive pace for both teams. Young shook off the rust from the first half with this 30 feet.
But the Hawks stalled and allowed a 12-5 streak at the start of the third quarter, with the Heat taking the 50-49 lead going to the Hawks’ time limit at 7:49. The game remained fierce with the leadership oscillating between the two teams. The Hawks had some very disputed offensive possessions like this and one by Kevin Huerter.
The Hawks withdrew an 8-0 streak to move from four points down to four in a two-minute break in the middle of the third quarter, and Heat maintained the lead for 60-56 with three minutes remaining. Atlanta didn’t make it easy for itself, with 17 sales in three quarters.
Fortunately, the Hawks did not break free in the last three minutes and were able to take a disadvantage of just three points in the final period. Such a solid move may have brought tears to the eyes of Hawks fans, with Bogdanovic giving a good pass to rookie Onyeka Okongwu for the official jam.
The fourth quarter started out stronger for Atlanta, with some encouraging signs from Okongwu and Bogdanovic. It was a three-point Bogdanovic that triggered a Miami timeout with 9:24 remaining on Wednesday and a 71-69 lead.
It was a short-lived advantage, however, with the Hawks coughing three consecutive turns and Heat managed to tie the game in 73, seven and a half minutes to go.
The Hawks’ starters re-entered the game at that point for the final stretch of the game. It was then that it was Young’s turn to catch fire, hitting three consecutive 3-point points to place the Hawks at 84-74 with 5:16 left in the game.
On the other side of the ball, the Heat seemed unable to buy a bucket, suffering a three and a half minute drought in the middle of the fourth period. The Heat reached the 80-point mark with just 30 seconds to go.
The Hawks secured a 94-80 victory, finishing the season’s series with Miami 1-1. Young led all of Atlanta’s top scorers with 18 points – including 13 in the fourth quarter – and 10 assists, while Collins threw 17 points and seven rebounds.